UPDATE 1-Devon Energy profit tops estimates, output jumps 19 pct

Reuters Staff

2 Min Read

(New throughout, adds estimate, updates share price)

Nov 4 (Reuters) - Devon Energy Corp, on Tuesday reported a sharply higher quarterly profit that topped Wall Street estimates as results were helped by the sale of U.S. oil and natural gas properties and the North American onshore operator pumped more crude than expected.

Shares of Devon rose nearly 2 percent to $57 per share after the close of regular trading.

Devon, which said it received $2.3 billion in pre-tax proceeds from the sale of marginal assets, also raised its full-year production outlook.

“Based on our strong year-to-date results and the confidence we have in our portfolio, we are raising our full-year production growth outlook to 14 percent, up from our previous guidance of 11 percent,” Devon Chief Executive John Richels said. “And we are delivering this incremental production growth without any increase in capital spending.”

The Oklahoma City-based company posted a third-quarter profit of $1 billion, or $2.47 per share, up from $429 million, or $1.05 per share, in the same period a year ago.

Excluding one-items, Devon had a profit of $1.34 per share. Analysts on average had expected a per-share profit of $1.23 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Total oil and gas production from company’s retained assets averaged 640,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, up 19 percent from a year ago.

Devon, which is focusing on drilling more profitable shale wells in places including the Eagle Ford in south Texas, said its oil production in the quarter rose 44 percent, more than expected, to a record of 216,000 boepd. (Reporting by Anna Driver, editing by G Crosse and David Gregorio)